Caanan Gassmann enters his first year as an Assistant Coach after joining Coach Wilson's staff in September just ahead of the 2024-25 season.
Gassmann is a versatile and motivated basketball professional skilled in player development, coaching and basketball operations. Throughout his coaching career, he has demonstrated success in establishing and maintaining a winning mindset through fundamental skills development, increasing basketball intelligence and enforcement of a strong work ethic.
Since 2019, he has served as the owner and head trainer of Gassmann Training where he is a specialized shooting coach and responsible for developing athletes through game-specific training and mental training.
He comes to VMI after serving as an assistant coach and scout for the University of Fort Lauderdale where he was tasked with leading preseason workouts, player development and NCAA eligibility on top of other coaching responsibilities. He took pride in building community engagement with local restaurants and sponsors.
This past summer, he served as an assistant coach and scout for the Miami Pro Summer League. Among many duties, he recruited top players for NBA level competitions, headed player practice and development and prepared and tracked winning metrics.
From 2022-24, he served as a coach and operations manager for the CYM Undiscovered Pro Showcases League where he assembled teams for professional showcase events, NBA-level player skill development, scouting and creating marketing and corporate partnership plans.
During the 2022-23 season, he was an assistant coach at Mount Aloysius College (D-III) in Pennsylvania where he was responsible for player development, strength and conditioning and leading both individual and team meetings.
Gassmann earned increasing responsibilities as a Team Attendant for the Orlando/Lakeland Magic from 2018-22. In this role, he oversaw player care, equipment management and assisted with pre-game workouts.
Other coaching responsibilities over the years include serving as an assistant coach for the Clermont Crocs (ABA), an assistant coach for Athletes in Action, a student manager for the UCF men's basketball team under head coach Johnny Dawkins and as a student manager for the Drake University women's basketball team, which went undefeated in conference two years straight.
Gassmann earned a bachelor's degree in exercise science from the University of Central Florida in 2019 before going on to earn a master's degree in exercise physiology from UCF in 2021.
